"I will not lift my blade against you." "But what if you didn't know? What if you went on a raid and I was there, fighting to protect my family and friends? What if I sighted in on some murdering savage, itchin' to blow him off his horse, and it was you?" His eyes were dark pits in his face when he turned to regard her. After a long silence he said, "You would pull the trigger?" Loretta stared up at him, her chest knotted around a huge ball of pain. "Oh, Hunter, no, I don't think I could." "Then let your sadness go the way of the wind, eh?" His teeth gleamed white in the moonlight. "If we meet in battle, I will know the song your heart sings, eh? And you will know mine." She swallowed, trying to read his expression, frustrated by the shadows. "What if it happened? What if you were attacking a farm, and you saw me at one of the windows? What would you do?" "I would salute you. There will be no war between us."